Corinne Stoddard Opens World Tour Season with Triple Podium Finishes in Montreal

Corinne Stoddard began the ISU Short Track World Tour season in a flash, sweeping to podium finishes in all three individual distances this past weekend in Montreal.

Stoddard, the only American skater to medal in the four-day competition at Maurice Richard Arena, captured Bronze medals in the Women’s 500m, 1000m and 1500m, doing so for the first time in her World Tour career. The 2022 Olympian emerged from the weekend ranked second in the World Tour Women’s Overall standings.

Kristen Santos-Griswold, the 2024-25 World Tour Women’s Overall champion who has been recovering from a back injury, took sixth in the 1500m and won the B Final in the 500m.

Having already finished third in the 500m and 1000m, Stoddard nearly chased down Canada’s Courtney Sarault in the 1500m final Sunday. Stoddard finished third in a time of 2:22.256 as South Korea’s Kim Gilli edged Stoddard for second place in 2:22.217. Sarault, who won two Gold medals this weekend, won in 2:22.156.

“Courtney’s tracks were really good, and I didn’t have the chance to move up,” said Stoddard, who was on Sarault’s heels the final two laps. “I tried to pass on the last straight, but Gilli got me on the line again.

“But I’m happy with how I’m racing. I’m going for gold, not just medals. Making A Finals consistently definitely racks up points, so I’m sitting in a good position for the Crystal Globe,” added Stoddard, who finished third in the 2024-25 Crystal Globe standings.

Sarault and Stoddard also battled for Gold in the 1000m. Stoddard, who won every preliminary race, led for most of the final but was passed by Sarault with a lap to go and by Kim at the finish line. Sarault won the race in 1:28.185, just ahead of Kim at 1:28.250 and Stoddard at 1:28.279.

“I led the whole quarterfinal, the whole semi, the whole final,” Stoddard said. “I didn’t have that one last lap in me. It’s a little disappointing, and I think I’ll maybe need to change my strategy. I used too much energy in the early round and got too excited in the final. It was a tactical error. Once you get to the A Final, it’s really hard to beat these girls, especially if you go out on the front.”

Stoddard medaled in the 500m in the World Tour for the first time, finishing behind winner Xandra Velzeboer of the Netherlands and runner-up Kim Boutin of Canada. Stoddard had a time of 43.142 seconds, less than two-tenths of a second slower than Velzeboer.

“I’m really happy with Bronze in the 500m because I’m not a 500m skater at all, so that just proves I am getting better,” Stoddard said. “This is my first time on the podium in the 500m and my top speed got a lot better over the summer, so I knew I’d be more competitive. I wasn’t expecting a podium today, so that’s exciting.”

Santos-Griswold was relegated to the 500m B Final after finishing behind Boutin, Stoddard and Velzeboer in a monster semifinal race. She won the B Final in 43.427 seconds.

Brandon Kim had the best finish among the U.S. men, placing seventh in the 1500m B Final, and 14th overall. He finished with a time of 2:32.144.

The World Tour remains in Montreal for the second leg of the competition, Oct. 16-19.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.